U.S. forces will defend Philippines coast guard vessels used to resupply an unusual sea base in the disputed South China Sea under a U.S.-Philippines defense treaty, the State Department said.
“The United States stands with the Philippines in the face of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) coast guard’s continued infringement upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” a department spokesman announced in a written statement that was released late last week. The United States called on Beijing to halt “provocative and unsafe conduct” in the region while continuing to closely track the activities.
The statement was made two days before President Biden met with visiting Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday in Washington, a meeting intended to bolster ties, including potential expansion of military relations as part of the Biden administration’s strategy of seeking closer alliances as a way to counter aggression by China.
Manila has announced plans to expand the number of bases in the Philippines used by U.S. forces.
The statement was the second time the U.S. government invoked the mutual defense treaty in pushing back against expansive Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea.
In March 2019, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that any armed attack on any Philippines forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China will trigger the mutual defense obligations under U.S.-Philippines defense treaty.
Beijing and Manila both claim sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, a group of eight islands and three reefs located in the southern part of the South China Sea.
In a related development, Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet, said recently that his forces are prepared to assist the Philippines in countering Chinese interference in resupplying a grounded naval ship used as a base by the Philippines in the Spratlys. Adm. Paparo said China frequently interfered with resupply operations and that its actions were “clearly unlawful.”
The four-star admiral was referring to recent aggressive maneuvers by Chinese coast guard vessels around the ship BRP Sierra Madre located on Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll in the Spratlys.
“We stand ready to come to the Philippines’ assistance, in their exercise of their sovereign rights,” Adm. Paparo said in an interview with Japan’s Nikkei newspaper on Friday. “We support the Philippines’ sovereign rights, in its EEZ [exclusive economic zone],” he said.
The U.S. military has provided intelligence to the Philippines on the Chinese maritime threats, he said, noting that the Philippines so far has not asked for Navy or U.S. Coast Guard support.
The announcement by Adm. Paparo is an indication the Navy is prepared to take military action should China conduct naval or coast guard operations against Philippines vessels. The Philippines vessel was escorting a resupply mission to the ship at Second Thomas Shoal, which is about 105 nautical miles from the Philippine province of Palawan.
China’s Foreign Ministry denied the lasering and said its coast guard acted according to law.
In late April, another Chinese coast guard ship sailed within 130 feet of a Philippine patrol board near the shoal in what the Associated Press reported was a near-collision.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Second Thomas Shoal, which Beijing calls Renai Reef, is Chinese territory. She asserted that the Philippines coast guard vessel was in the area “without Chinese permission” and closed in on the Chinese vessel.
The Chinese vessel’s response was aimed at upholding “territorial sovereignty and maritime order,” she said.
The Chinese military last week rejected recent U.S. and Philippines joint statements opposing Chinese maritime claims and provocative activities in the South China Sea.
Sr. Col. Tan Kefei, a Defense Ministry spokesman, told reporters in Beijing that the statements were “a malicious smear and groundless accusations by the U.S. and the Philippines.”
“China’s infrastructure construction and deployment of necessary defensive forces on certain islands and reefs in the South China Sea are a lawful exercise of national sovereignty, which is absolutely legal and legitimate,” he said.
China’s government has claimed sovereignty over some 90% of the South China Sea, a claim rejected in 2016 by an international tribunal in The Hague that sided with the Philippines in stating that Second Thomas Shoal is within Manila’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.